LOCATION EDMONDS WAEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic, mesic, ortstein Andic Endoaquods
TYPICAL PEDON: Edmonds ashy loam - on a 1 percent northeast-facing slope in pasture at 70 feet elevation. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise noted. All textures are apparent field textures.)
Ap1--0 to 6 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 3/2) ashy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 6/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; soft, very friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; NaF pH 9.9; moderately acid (pH 5.6); clear smooth boundary.
Ap2--6 to 11 inches; brown (7.5YR 4/2) ashy loam, pinkish gray (7.5YR 7/2) dry; weak fine granular structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine and fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; NaF pH 10.4; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (Combined thickness of the Ap horizon is 4 to 12 inches)
E--11 to 18 inches; dark grayish brown (10YR 4/2) ashy loam, light gray (10YR 7/2) dry; moderate medium subangular blocky structure; hard, firm, nonsticky and nonplastic; many very fine roots; many very fine irregular pores; NaF pH 11.0; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (2 to 10 inches thick)
2Bs1--18 to 23 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) loamy sand; pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; weak medium subangular blocky structure; slightly hard, friable, nonsticky and nonplastic; few very fine roots; common very fine irregular pores; many coarse prominent dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6) redox accumulations, reddish yellow (7.5YR 6/6) dry; NaF pH 11.1; moderately acid (pH 5.6); abrupt smooth boundary. (3 to 7 inches thick)
2Bs2--23 to 37 inches; yellowish red (5YR 4/6 and 5YR 5/6) loamy sand with 75 percent ortstein concretions 2 to 6 inches in diameter, reddish yellow (5YR 6/6 and 7.5YR 6/6) dry; massive; extremely hard ortstein, slightly hard matrix, extremely firm orstein, friable matrix, nonsticky and nonplastic; few fine irregular pores in matrix; many coarse prominent brown (10YR 4/3) redox accumulations, very pale brown (10YR 7/3) dry; NaF pH 10.7; moderately acid (pH 6.0); abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 15 inches thick)
2C--37 to 60 inches; variegated but dominantly dark grayish brown (2.5Y 4/2) sand, light brownish gray (2.5Y 6/2) dry; single grain; loose; many fine irregular pores; 5 percent gravel; NaF pH 9.9; slightly acid (pH 6.4).
TYPE LOCATION: Whatcom County, Washington; about 3 miles north of Ferndale; 1,200 feet south and 1,900 feet east of the northwest corner of section 8, T. 39 N., R. 2 E.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: The mean annual soil temperature is 50 to 54 degrees F. Thickness of the solum is 20 to 40 inches. The upper 14 to 20 inches of the solum is estimated to have andic soil properties. The particle-size control section has by weighted average 0 to 5 percent gravel.
The Ap horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 or 4 moist, 6 or 7 dry and chroma of 1 through 3 moist and dry. Reaction is strongly acid or moderately acid. Pedons in uncultivated areas have an A horizon 3 to 7 inches thick that is similar to the Ap horizon.
The E horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR, value of 3 through 5 moist, 6 or 7 dry and chroma of 1 or 2 moist and dry. It is ashy loam or ashy sandy loam. Reaction is strongly acid or moderately acid.
The 2Bs horizon has hue of 7.5YR or 10YR in the matrix, 5YR or 7.5YR in the ortstein or redox accumulations; value of 3 through 5 moist, 5 through 7 dry and chroma of 2 through 4 moist and dry in the matrix and 4 through 6 in the ortstein or redox accumulations. It is loamy sand or sand. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid. The lower part contains 50 to 90 percent ortstein as rounded or angular concretions, slag-like fragments or as irregularly shaped indurated concretions.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR, 2.5Y, or 5Y, value of 3 or 4 moist, 6 or 7 dry and chroma of 2 or 3 moist and dry. It is coarse sand or medium sand. Reaction is moderately acid or slightly acid.
COMPETING SERIES: There are no competing series.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: Edmonds soils are on outwash terraces and outwash plains at elevations of 50 to 300 feet. Slopes are 0 to 2 percent. The soils formed in loess and volcanic ash over glacial outwash. Edmonds soils are in a marine climate with warm, dry summers and cool, moist winters. Snow cover is intermittent. The mean annual precipitation is 35 to 55 inches, which falls mostly between October and May. Each of the summer months has at least one inch of rainfall. The mean January temperature is 36 degrees F. and the mean July temperature is 62 degrees F. The mean annual temperature is 48 to 52 degrees F. The frost-free season is 150 to 190 days.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: These are the Everson, Fishtrap, Hale, Indianola, Laxton, Lynden, Pangborn, Tromp, and Woodlyn soils. Everson soils are clayey over sandy or sandy-skeletal. Fishtrap and Pangborn soils are Histosols. Hale soils lack an aquic moisture regime and are 0 to 15 percent ortstein fragments in the control section. Indianola soils have a xeric moisture regime and are sandy. Laxton, Lynden and Tromp soils have a xeric moisture regime. Woodlyn soils are 10 to 14 inches to a continuously strongly cemented ortsein pan.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Poorly drained; very slow runoff; moderate permeability in the solum, very rapid in the substratum. An apparent water table is at 0 to 1 foot from November through April unless drained.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are drained and used mainly for cropland. Hay, pasture, and corn silage are common crops. Native vegetation is red alder, western hemlock, western redcedar, bigleaf maple, paper birch, and black cottonwood with an understory of vine maple, salmonberry, red huckleberry, western swordfern, and salal.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Northwestern Washington; MLRA 2. The series is of small extent.
MLRA SOIL SURVEY REGIONAL OFFICE (MO) RESPONSIBLE: Portland, Oregon
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Kitsap County, Washington, l935.
REMARKS: This draft reflects a change in classification from ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic, mesic, ortstein Andic Duraquods to ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic, mesic, ortstein Andic Endoaquods
Diagnostic horizons and features recognized in this pedon are:
ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 11 inches,
albic horizon - the zone from 11 to 18 inches
spodic horizon - the zone from 18 to 37 inches that is cemented in 75 percent of the lower part.
andic soil properties - the zone from 0 to 18 inches (assumed)
particle-size control section - the zone from 10 to 40 inches with the upper 10 to 18 inches meeting the ashy family and the lower 18 to 40 inches meeting the sandy or sandy-skeletal family.
Series reclassified 08/03 from ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic, mesic, ortstein Andic Duraquods to ashy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, amorphic over isotic, mesic, ortstein Andic Endoaquods based on lack of 90 percent or more cementation of the Bs horizons.
Further investigation is needed as to the nature of the water table and whether there may also be a perching effect caused by the ortstein material.
ADDITIONAL DATA: Characterization data are available on these soils. Laboratory number 81P3052-3057; NSSL, Lincoln, NE.